Want to Improve Communication Skills in Children? Have Them Read Aloud Early and Often

As an educator that has worked with thousands of young children, I know there is always a handful of them every year that have such severe communication issues that it can be challenging to get a complete sentence out of them. They would speak only in one or two-word phrases when trying to relate some information. Furthermore, about one-third of all the young students I have encountered struggle with communication with their peers, teachers, or parents. They lack verbal skills at the moment.

I hate to say it, but children are not the only ones with communication issues. There are plenty of adults who need help to carry on a conversation. Tragically, this can stay with them as they grow older. 

For the most part, this can be avoided if children start early with reading aloud. They will often read aloud when they are first learning how to read, but after a while, they quit. Instead, children should continue to read aloud, not all the time but a reasonable amount of time, even as they enter junior high.

How Does Reading Aloud Improve Communication Skills?
There are plenty of ways reading aloud improves communication skills. Consider these reasons as you contemplate having your children spend more time reading aloud.

• Hearing how other people speak, especially in complete sentences, with different viewpoints, is key to improving communication skills. Even when it is only characters from a book, before long, the children will begin to emulate what they are reading and speak more often in not only complete sentences but elongated ones as well.
• Children will sometimes not use certain words because they are unsure how to pronounce them or use them correctly in a sentence. Suppose you would like a professional tutor from iAchieve to help your child read aloud with proper tone and expression and ask questions to ensure they comprehend the material simultaneously. In that case, we have tutors who work remotely or in person with children of all ages. Through reading aloud, with someone present to ensure the words are read correctly, they will learn to understand the context behind using the words, and their vocabulary will grow in turn. 
• It may seem strange, but reading aloud also improves listening skills. As children read aloud, they listen to how an expression changes according to the character. As they practice reading aloud and hearing, they will be more apt to listen to others when speaking. 
• When someone struggles to comprehend specific text, they immediately start reading it aloud. (I am sure most parents understand this when trying their darndest to assemble a bicycle or complicated toys for their children.) Reading aloud improves comprehension as the reader listens closely to the words, they read much slower than if they were skimming over them in their head, and their memory is much better as the words escape their lips. 
• Many of the best public speakers started off reading aloud as children. In essence, as many people make their speeches with notes and index cards, they are still reading aloud. It won’t take long before children have no issue with public speaking if they are practicing by reading aloud. 
• Communication is not just verbal. There is written communication as well. In a world that is getting used to only sending short texts written in code, a child would do well to read aloud as they learn how much weight the written word can carry.

Many times, confidence is what makes a good communicator. A person who knows they have these skills developed through reading aloud will not be afraid to display them. Learn them early and often; by the time the children are adults, they will be better off communicating than most people are currently. 

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